Patrick Stewart Wants in On Quentin Tarantino‘s ‘Star Trek’

Quentin Tarantino is not only developing a Star Trek movie with J.J. Abrams, but he’s convinced Paramount to let him make an R-rated feature. And if Paramount can get behind that wacky insanity, then who knows what other zany tricks are up Tarantino’s sleeve — all of which is to say that maybe we shouldn’t be surprised every time there’s a new story about this movie. Anything is possible, including the potential for Patrick Stewart to reprise his role as Jean-Luc Picard, which is exactly what he’d like to do.

You can’t blame Stewart for wanting to get in on Tarantino’s Star Trek; I’m sure most of the actors from the franchise, both old and new, are hoping to get that phone call. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Stewart made his interest well-known:

People are always saying to me, ‘Will you be Jean-Luc Picard again?’ And I cannot think that would be possible, but there are ways in which something like that might come about.

But one of my dreams is to work with Tarantino. I admire his work so much and to be in a Tarantino film would give me so much satisfaction. So, if he is going to direct something to do with Star Trek and there was the possibility of dear old Jean-Luc showing up again and doing that for Mr. Tarantino, I would embrace it.

To his credit, Stewart — ever the gentleman — avoids coming off real thirsty about it. If there is a part for Picard, then he’d be down to return, but only if that’s what Tarantino wants. And Stewart definitely isn’t averse to R-rated blockbusters; he reprised the role of Professor Charles Xavier in this year’s poignant, gritty Logan, and he did a damn fine job. Let him drop some F-bombs on the Enterprise! Why not?

Yesterday it was reported that Abrams and Tarantino have assembled a trio of scribes in their Trek writers’ room: Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3), Lindsey Beer (Godzilla vs. Kong) and Mark L. Smith (The Revenant), with the latter emerging as the most likely frontrunner to turn Tarantino’s pitch into a screenplay. The script is expected to be written while Tarantino directs his next project, which (somewhat) involves the Manson family murders and hits theaters in August 2018.

As to what Tarantino’s Star Trek is about, that’s not entirely clear, but the director previously shared his affection for the franchise and offered up a potential story idea on a podcast around the time The Hateful Eight came out:

Tarantino notes that he’s particularly a fan of Shatner-era Trek, and he’s also a huge fan of The Voyage Home, which has played at his New Beverly theater in Los Angeles twice in recent months. Make of that what you will.